Page 13 of Claimed By The Orc

I had so many questions. You know what? No, I didn’t. The less I knew, the better. I jerked my head toward the door. “Alright, let’s go. I was already an accomplice to covering up a murder, so why not add breaking and entering to the list?”

I sent a silent apology to the Cunninghams and then followed Mahk inside. He looked worried, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that he was squatting in my neighbor’s home while they spent time with their first grandchild.

“What?” I snapped, when he kept staring at me, a little ruder than I’d meant to be. But I was internally freaking out a bit. Somewhere in my warped moral compass, being in the Cunninghams’ bungalow without them knowing felt worse than watching Mahk dispose of a body. Maybe because Koth had seemed like an asshole who’d deserved it? Or maybe it was because even if he was ever discovered, the police would never be able to make sense of the massive green orc and would probably cover it up. Or possibly it was because the Cunninghams were sweet as fuck. They’d sometimes look after the girls for me when Chelsey couldn’t, and Mrs. Cunningham made the best baked ziti and always made sure to save an extra tray for us to take home. It kind of felt like I was betraying her trust.

But when we walked in, some of my concerns were alleviated. It looked exactly like it always had. The house was clean, and all of the family photos were untouched. Mrs. Cunningham’s music box collection still sat proudly in the glass display cabinet. I sucked in a deep breath. Mahk seemed to be respecting their place at least.

This was when, once again, my insane attraction to Mahk overrode any sense I thought I had. I started to reason it out. The Cunninghams were awesome. If they knew Mahk needed a place to stay, they’d probably be happy to have him here while they were gone. I could pretend, at least for a little while, that Mahk had gotten permission and I wasn’t committing a crime.

I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I’d had a lot of shit thrown at me in my life, but this was simultaneously the hardest and not that bad. I could walk away at any time. It wasn’t like when Mom had gotten sick or when the second stroke had left her wheelchair bound and I’d had to leave school. That was my family. It was heavy and too much and all I wanted to do was bury my head under the blanket and pretend none of it washappening, but I couldn’t. I had a sick mom I had to take care of and four siblings that were too young to take care of themselves. I’d had to face it head-on, as much as I hadn’t wanted to.

I had no obligation here. I could walk away right now, go back home, and get that sleep I clearly needed. I could ignore Mahk when he came into the store or even ask him to leave. I didn’t have to see his orc form or whatever the fuck else. Could go back to my boring ass life and responsibilities.

Yet, I couldn’t. Just the thought of walking away from Mahk hurt, even if I couldn’t explain why. My little stalker had his hooks in me, and as much as the sensible thing would be to end this, I wasn’t going anywhere.

Slowly, like I was in a fog, I sat down on the Cunninghams’ powder-blue couch. I looked at Mahk, who still stood in the middle of the room, looking a little shell-shocked. As much as this was hard for me, I had to imagine it wasn’t easy for Mahk either. This was an entirely different culture and lifestyle that he’d been thrown into. Then on top of that, for whatever reason, he seemed attached to me and cared about my opinions. It was very odd having that kind of attention on me, even now as he stared with his blue/purple puppy eyes and those fucking lashes that were the death of me.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

He didn’t move. “Do what, Tanner?”

I waved at him. “The whole magic thing. Let me see what you really look like.”

His eyes widened and his fingers ticked, something I’d noticed he did when he was nervous. “Are you sure? I do not want to frighten you.”

“I’m sure. I want to see the real you.” I flashed him a small smile. “Besides, I already witnessed you dumping a body. If I haven't run yet, then I won’t because of this.”

Mahk still seemed unsure, but he reached for the gaudy bangle he always wore and took it off.

Where the cute man I’d been crushing on had been now stood an orc. A full-ass, straight out of my favorite monster fucker Yaoi orc. Mahk was now taller than I was by a few inches, thick muscles filling his features. His skin was light green, and I noticed a few scars along his arms that had not been there in the human body. A thick, dark beard covered his face, his tusks sticking out through the coarse strands. His dark hair on his head hung down to his shoulders, and there was that white-blond streak I always found fascinating. He blinked up at me, and his eyes were fully purple now. A deep, intoxicating amethyst color that held me in a chokehold.

Mahk stood very still, his fingers flexing nervously as he watched me. I knew he was waiting for a reaction, but it was taking some time for my brain to reload and get on board with forming a coherent sentence. I wasn’t scared, far from it. I was having a hard time coming to terms with how my body was reacting to the orc in front of me.

His clothes seemed to adjust and grow to fit his body, which made his odd ensemble stand out even more. They stretched over his broader form, and yeah, okay, I looked down at the bulge in between his legs. But trust me, anyone would. Even covered in clothing, it was . . . obvious. I didn’t even think he was hard—he was that massive. Usually when I hooked up, I topped, but my mind was already wandering and delving into fantasies it had no business having.

I forced myself to look up. Mahk was waiting for me to say anything, to ease his nerves, and instead I was ogling the man. The orc? Whatever, it was still inappropriate. So instead, I got lost inside those amethyst eyes. Fuck, they were beautiful. I stood up and slowly approached him. Mahk didn’t move a muscle.

My heart was racing, but I knew Mahk would never hurt me. It was strictly adrenaline. Too much had happened in such a short time and it had my body reacting. I stopped about a foot away. It was a little strange that he was suddenly bigger than I was, though not that much. I looked up with a soft smile and gently reached out until I was cupping his cheek, my palm pushing into his coarse beard.

“Thank you for showing me,” I whispered almost reverently. I didn’t know why I was reacting like this, but it felt appropriate. I couldn’t imagine the amount of trust it took for Mahk to share everything he had. Mahk leaned into my touch, eyes half closed, like he craved nothing more. Slowly, cautiously, he brought a hand up to mine, covering it. I grinned.

“You have the same pretty eyelashes in this form. It’s my fucking kryptonite.”

Mahk smiled, his eyes lighting up, even as he looked confused. “Kryptonite?”

Suddenly, all his odd phrasing and naivety about basic things made sense. He was from a completely different world, so of course he didn’t know those things. “It comes from an old superhero, Superman. Basically, nothing could hurt or kill him, except one thing; kryptonite. It was his only weakness.”

The implication sunk in and Mahk rewarded me with a lopsided smile that had one of his tusks tilting up, and it was so fucking adorable and so reminiscent of the ones I was used to with his human illusion. It warmed me. This was still my little stalker, just slightly larger. And green.

“I’m sorry I kept this from you,” Mahk said eventually. His voice was a little huskier now, gravel in the tone that went right to my core.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I get it.”

The air around us was heavy with anticipation. We were on the cusp of something monumental, something life-changing. Iwrenched away, creating some much-needed space between us. I had to be able to breath without his heady scent filling my nose.

We stared at each other, neither one of us finding the words for whatever was happening. I understood the significance of him telling me this. It meant something. He’d finished his job that he was here for. Mahk could’ve easily lied to me and disappeared, leaving me with questions I’d never have the answer to and an ache in my soul. But he hadn’t. He’d told me the truth. I didn’t know why, and I was scared to find out.

Something needed to give, though. I cleared my throat. “So what now?”

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